By David Gold
August 2 – FIFA has published a letter on its website attacking British politicians, with secretary general Jerome Valcke claiming that they should “act and speak on facts and not on unsubstantiated headlines”.
The giant makeshift marquees at the swish Marina da Glória where the 2014 qualifying draw took place have been pulled down and all delegates have now left town. Rio is back to normal daily life. But that, of course, still means a national obsession with football.
Bold and brassy, sexy and spontaneous, there is little doubt that in terms of colour and excitement, this country will put on a show in three years’
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 31 – UEFA President Michel Platini has warned European football’s giants not to set up a breakaway league or risk being thrown out of all competitions.
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 30 – Eighty-one years to the day since Uruguay won the first ever World Cup, the race for Brazil 2014 was launched in earnest today at a glittering $20 milion qualifying draw ceremony that threw up a whole host of intriguing match-ups that will get under way in Septemer next year.
England’s defeat to Germany in the 2010 World Cup triggered the inquiry into football governance, so humiliating was the nature of the 4-1 loss, and yesterday the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee which took on the inquiry proposed its solution to the questions thrown up by that humbling experience. It is this context in which their report on football governance should be seen; a means to an ends, that end being the success of English football,
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 29 – To the eyes of the world, one man represents the iconic face of Brazilian football.
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 29 – The first major test of Brazil’s ability to organise the 2014 World Cup takes place tomorrow with a star-studded preliminary draw inside a giant makeshift auditorium at Rio de Janeiro’s swish Marina da Gloria.
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 29 – Sao Paulo officials today insisted the city will definitely be ready to stage the opening match of the 2014 World Cup, with a final decision to be made by FIFA’s Executive Committee in October.
By David Gold at Westminster in London
July 29 – The Culture, Media and Sport Select committee have urged the Government to use its influence to prevent the European Court of Justice ruling in favour of Karen Murphy (pictured), a Portsmouth landlady, who wants to retain her right to broadcast Premier League football in her pub through a Greek satellite decoder.
By David Gold at Westminster in London
July 29 – MPs today threatened to legislate in an attempt to force English football to make a number of reforms, including the introduction of a licensing system for professional clubs, if the Football Association (FA) was unable to do so, with MP Damian Collins telling football authorities that “doing nothing is not an option”.
By David Gold
July 29 – Twelve cities have been invited by Frank van Hattum (pictured), the chairman of New Zealand football, to host the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2015.
By David Gold
July 28 – Atalanta and Chievo Verona will face an Italian Football Federation (FIGC) disciplinary hearing next week as part of the ongoing investigation into match fixing in the country.
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 28 – Vastly more Brazilians are looking forward to the FIFA World Cup in 2014 than the Rio Olympic Games two years later.
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 27 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter today refuted allegations by one-time colleague Mohamed Bin Hammam that he ran the organisation like a dictator but refused to get drawn any further into the explosive bribery scandal that snared the former Asian football chief at the weekend.
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 27 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter admitted today that preparations for the 2014 World Cup could be more advanced but said the country deserved to host the tournament and would end up proving critics wrong.